So – it seems that the systematic oppression and locking up of women was not something confined to Ireland and Scotland.  America had its own form of the “Glasgow System” called the “American Plan” started around the time of World War 1, with the same purpose – to remove women who were thought to be or had the potential to be “fallen.”  Women were arrested for being “suspicious characters” with no real basis for their arrests and forced internal examinations.

By 1921, every state in America had adopted the laws behind the American Plan and these laws were enforced for the next half-century.  There was a  vague standard of “reasonable suspicion” which allowed the police to arrest and detain any woman they wanted.   They were detained for such spurious reasons as  sitting at a restaurant alone; for changing jobs; for being with a man; for walking down a street in a way a male official found suspicious; and, often, for no reason at all.

The enforcement of the laws remained until the 1970s and in some states- the laws to detain and examine someone for whom there is “reasonable suspicion” they have an STI still exists to this day.

https://www.history.com/news/chamberlain-kahn-act-std-venereal-disease-imprisonment-women?fbclid=IwAR1wuRDSIheZl7XNkaEeSu1jyOYu8slJ5_9FG0o9tZyp9JnCvh3h2d56pOs

https://www.history.com/news/magdalene-laundry-ireland-asylum-abuse

A lot of what is written abut Magdalene institutes focus on the Irish system and the mistreatment and abuses of women who were incarcerated in them.   I came across this article which highlights some of what is known and tis paragraph stood out as It echoed what happened to women in Glasgow –

“How did such an abusive system endure for 231 years in Ireland? To start with, any talk of harsh treatment at the Magdalene laundries and mothers’ homes tended to be dismissed by the public, since the institutions were run by religious orders. Survivors who told others what they had been through were often shamed or ignored. Other women were too embarrassed to talk about their past and never told anyone about their experiences. Details on both the inmates and their lives are scant.”

One survivor Mary Smith who gave her oral history as part of a research project into the Magdalene Institutions led by Dr Katherine O’Donnell in 2013 said –

“In other words we were worse than humans, we weren’t, weren’t humans at all we were worse  than like…an…animals are beautiful, but we weren’t…they were always… We used to have to  line up in Clonakilty and they used to make us hold our hands and the nuns used to say to us,  ‘say after me, “I am a nobody. I am a nobody”’ – they used to keep telling us to say that, ‘I am a  nobody’. And they used to brain wash us with this and I was actually talking to a girl and she  keeps onto this day saying…she thinks she’s a nobody. She keeps on…she has herself  brainwashed that she’s a nobody. “ (pg 14)

It is heart-breaking to read her story and the abuses that happened to her and the other girls and women she saw.   It reminded me more than ever that we need to acknowledge and recognise the women in Glasgow.

We were delighted to  have a visit from Suzanne Allan from BBC Scotland on International Women’s Day.  She has been researching what we have been doing along with the history behind Lochburn House and the  Glasgow system.

We had a long chat, a very long chat – once I get started talking about this project – its hard to reign me back in but any chance to push these women’s stories must be taken!

Hopefully there will be a feature on all this on Saturday 16th March in the morning on BBC Radio Scotland.   Hopefully you can have a listen in or catch up on I-player.

A blog post from Selena Drake, a Maryhill resident who was able to join us on the 12th December.

Thanks for coming along Selena and writing up your thoughts from that night.

https://selenadrake.wordpress.com/2018/12/13/it-is-time-to-remember-glasgows-forgotten-women/

I found this list of names from the 1881 census in Glasgow.

Scanning down it, looking at the ages I wondered what had brought these girls and women to this point, who were they and what did they hope would happen in their lives.

What did 16 year old Charlotte from Lanark want to be?   Who were her friends and what did they think of their pal being sent away to Lochburn?

What did Grace from Menstrie like to play as a child?   What were her parents like and did her siblings miss her when she was shut away?  What happened  in her first 16 years before Lochburn?

How did 40 year old Mary from Australia end up in Glasgow and did she think when she arrived in Scotland that she would be in Lochburn.  She was the oldest woman there at that time – how did she get on with the other women and girls?  Did she want to go back to Australia and what ever happened to her when she left Lochburn?

Sadly we will never really know but if there are any of you with some spare time on your hands to help going through archives- we could possibly  find out more.

http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/GlasgowMH/GlasgowMH1881.shtml

This is a copy of the press release we put out yesterday in relation to the motion proposed at Glasgow City Council.

“A motion has been proposed by 2 Glasgow City Councillors, Councillor John Letford and Councillor Jackie McLaren to recognise and pay tribute to thousands of women and girls who were incarcerated as part of “the Glasgow System” involving the police, the medical profession, religious bodies and the local authorities.

The “Glasgow System” was set up in the late 19^th Century amid growing concerns about sexually transmitted diseases, prostitution, and the moral health of society. The term “prostitutes”, was an umbrella term at the time which encompassed single mothers, socialists, mill girls, actresses as well as those who had to sell sex for money. . Women were considered the vectors of disease and could morally corrupt others.

• Thousands women were locked away in Institutions – the Glasgow Magdalene Asylum, Lochburn House and the Lock Hospital.
• Most of these were working class women were incarcerated, many never being released. They had committed no crime, were never convicted of any wrongdoing and no right of appeal. They were not afforded the luxury of a fair and just society.
• Lochburn House was closed down in September 1958 after the women staged a breakout amid claims of beatings and verbal abuse.

Cllr Letford said:

“I’m proud to have worked with women’s agencies and locals in Maryhill to raise awareness of this injustice, and the need for the City to commemorate it and learn lessons.

I’m calling for this to be something that the City ensures is never forgotten and women’s voices past and present are heard. Not as victims or survivors, but as women who took their lives in their own hands and made change happen”

Bailie McLaren said:

“These type of institutions occurred over all Glasgow and Scotland. I’m proud of what Glasgow has done in the meantime to promote and respect women’s rights, whether that’s addressing sexual violence or sexual discrimination and resolving long standing equal pay disputes. As an SNP female elected member, I’m especially proud of the First Minister’s National Advisory Council on Women and Girls; and agree with the recent report that only systemic change will lead to changing behaviours, attitudes and culture. Commemorating the Lochburn House Rebels is a key part of this.”

Linda Mahood – a Canadian academic, one of the first to research the Glasgow system said – “It is time to break the silence about an unpleasant time in Glasgow’s past when thousands of women and girls were locked away in the Glasgow Magdalene Institution and made to work as unpaid labour in laundries as atonement for alleged sins against the moral code of the day. To commemorative the lives of these women, we should encourage everyone to reflect on how they can speak up and take action to challenge and change the culture that allows gender-based violence to persist.”

Linda Thompson from the Women’s Support project, who has been leading on this work said – “I am delighted that the resilience and courage of the thousands of women who were incarcerated via the Glasgow System will be acknowledged and hope that we can move forward on a memorial to remember these forgotten women.”

We are delighted that 2 of the local councillors up in MaryHill proposed this motion to Glasgow City Council on the 14th February.  It is up for discussion on the 21st February at the full council meeting.

It is such a positive step to getting recognition for the girls and women.

Thank you to Councillors Letford and McLaren for putting these women on the agenda

“Lochburn House

Council notes the work of the Women’s Support Project, the Women’s Centre and others to create a memorial garden on the site of Lochburn House in Maryhill. Council recognises that the women incarcerated in Lochburn House were often very young, working class women, who found themselves there through a variety of circumstances and for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was destitution, poverty and occasionally, their socialist and other political beliefs.

Council acknowledges that women were institutionalised as part of a system in Glasgow involving the police, justiciary, the medical profession, religious bodies and the local authority. Council notes that Lochburn House was closed down in September 1958 after twenty seven women aged between 15 and 19 years old broke out of the home and spoke of beatings and verbal abuse, and that this survivor centred ethos is vital to this commemoration. Council agrees Glasgow’s ‘dirty secret’ needs told and that their voices are early examples of “Hear Me Too”.

Council calls on the Chief Executive to raise this issue with Glasgow Life and to work with the local community in Maryhill to explore how violence against women and girls can be further addressed, by using the women’s example of resistance against their oppression. Council agrees that this, and the exploration of a memorial garden, would be a fitting tribute to the women’s lives and struggle. “

Councillor John Letford

Councillor Jackie McLaren

It has been great to see where our visitors have come from in the last day and hello to you all – from USA, UK, Ireland, Sweden, Canada and Norway!

Whilst we are out and about talking to people about the history of Lochburn House as part of the Glasgow System, we have been gathering ideas as to how the women in the Lock Hospital, The Magdalene Institute and LochBurn House could be remembered.

These have varied but common themes are coming to the fore with a desire to mark these women in creative and engaging ways.   We have collated these to make sure we record the whole range of ideas as we move forward.

We would love to hear from you if you have any other ideas – you can contact us via this blog or via this email address – enquiries@womenssupportproject.org.uk

Rottenrow in Glasgow is an area many are familiar with as this is where Glasgow Royal Maternity and Women’s hospital was located from 1881 until 2001 when it moved to its current site on Alexandra Parade.  All that remains of that Maternity Unit is the entrance hall, still remaining as part of a garden on the old site.  The hospital was well known for pioneering treatments for pregnant and labouring women including the first Caesarean section under modern antiseptic conditions on 10 April 1888.

Generations of Glaswegian women made that long walk up Montrose Street in labour, arriving at Rottenrow at the top,  not realising that on that very street other women were also undergoing  treatment at a very different  establishment- the Lock Hospital.

(The remains of the Maternity Hospital Building at Rottenrow, photographed in 2005 © Copyright Lairich Rig and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

(map showing contemporary Rottenrow)

A Lock hospital was established in Glasgow in 1805 with 11 beds to “treat” women and girls with sexually transmitted infections such as syphilis and gonorrhoea and moved in 1846 to 41 Rottenrow and was eventually demolished in 1955.   The Lock hospital only took women – there was a separate hospital for men.

The word “Lock” name was thought to either derive from the old English word loke, associated with a leper house, or the French loque which was a bandage used for leprosy. Like lepers, those with VD were shunned.   There was widespread belief at that time that women were responsible for the spread of sexually transmitted infections and should be locked away for their own and for men’s protection.

The Lock in Glasgow was located in what was considered the “red light” district and was designed to look just like the neighbouring buildings with nothing to indicate it was a hospital. reflecting the idea that the women needed to be hidden away.

We are indebted to Anna Forrest, a Glaswegian Librarian at the College for Physicians and Surgeons, for her commitment and work in uncovering the history of the Lock and for spending a lot of time trawling through archives to find out more about the women there and give them a place in Glasgow’s history.

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12266312.dark-secrets-of-hospital-that-city-pretended-didnt-exist/

The Lock’s patients were the poorest and most desperate women and children in Glasgow. The conditions in the hospital were very poor with some “cures” killed the women more quickly than the diseases themselves. Many women died whilst patients and others never left after admission despite it being a supposed “voluntary” admission.  A report from 1882 highlights the conditions of entry for women and says – “You ARE NOT TO GO OUT OF THE HOSPITAL, ON ANY PRETENCE  WHATEVER, UNTIL YOU ARE REGULARLY DISCHARGED ; and if, after this  caution, you go out, you will not be suffered to return into the house.”  https://archive.org/stream/b22378479/b22378479_djvu.txt

(The Lock before it was demolished in 1955.  Photograph accessed from http://glasgowpunter.blogspot.com/2017/12/olde-glasgow-hospitals.html)

Further reading

A copy of a report presented by Alexander Patterson M.D. to the Glasgow Medico- Chirurgical Society, 3rd November, 1882 can be read here  – https://archive.org/details/b22378479

https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/they-called-it-the-lock-and-it-was-a-fate-worse-than-death

Information on Linda Mahood’s original thesis – http://eleanor.lib.gla.ac.uk/record=b1308646